Additional Data on the Fauna of Bivalve Mollusks of the Title Russian Continental Coast of the Sea of Japan : Middle Primorye and Nakhodka Bay Author(s) Lutaenko, Konstantin A. PUBLICATIONS OF THE SETO MARINE BIOLOGICAL Citation LABORATORY (1999), 38(5-6): 255-286 Issue Date 1999-09-30 URL http://hdl.handle.net/2433/176283 Right Type Departmental Bulletin Paper Textversion publisher Kyoto University Pub!. Seto Mar. Bioi. Lab., 38(5/6): 255-286, 1999 Additional Data on the Fauna of Bivalve Mollusks of the Russian Continental Coast of the Sea of Japan: Middle Primorye and Nakhodka Bay KoNSTANTIN A. LuTAENKO The Institute Museum, Institute of Marine Biology, Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok 690041, Russia Abstract The bivalve molluscan fauna of Vrangel Bay, a small embayment in the eastern part of Peter the Great Bay (Nakhodka Bay), and in several localities along the coast of middle Primorye (Maritime Province, both in north-western part of the Sea of Japan, was studied based on 185 dredge and SCUBA-diving samples (in all, 40 stations). A total of 58 species of bivalves were identified. Eight species are recorded for the first time from the coast of middle Primorye. Comparative analysis ofbathymetric ranges of bivalve mollusks from different parts of the Sea of Japan is carried out, and presence of shells believed to be subfos~il and redeposition of Recent shell remains are discussed. Cold-water and relatively cold-water mollusks occur in Vrangel Bay, a protected bay, in shallow waters which can be explained by the influence of the cold Primorskoe Current. The faunal differences between eastern and western parts of Peter the Great Bay are emphasized. Taxonomic and biogeographic comments on some species are given. Key words: bivalve mollusks, biogeography, batymetric ranges, taxonomy Introduction Despite the appearance of the monograph of Scarlata ( 1981) dealing with bivalve fauna of all Russian (former Soviet) Far Eastern Seas, and a number of recent publications, species composition, taxonomy and distributional patterns of bivalve mollusks of the Russian part of the Sea of Japan (East Sea) remain poorly known as compared to the Japanese coast. Peter the Great Bay (the southern part of the Primorye Territory, Maritime Province is the only thoroughly investigated area; however, species composition data and distribution of mollusks refer mostly to some bays and localities within Peter the Great Bay -Possjet Bay (Golikov & Scarlata, 1967; 1971), Far East State Marine Reserve area (Moskaletz, 1984; 1990), and Vostok Bay (Evseev, 1976). There are also several papers describing selected bivalves from Peter the Great Bay or treating their nomenclature and systematics based on materials mainly from the Bay (Bartsch, 1929; Scarlata, 1972; Ivanova & Moskaletz, 1984; Lutaenko, 1993; Kafanov & Lutaenko, 1996, 1997a, b; Kamenev, 1996). We undertook a special faunal and taphonomic investigation on beach molluscan thanatocoenoses in Possjet, Amur, Ussuri and Vostok Bays (Lutaenko, 1990; 1994a, b). As for the areas situated north of Peter the Great Bay, we should mention a paper of Romeyko ( 1985). Unfortunately, this author performed only a biogeographical and ecological analysis of bivalve fauna, without presentation of species lists. Therefore, we are not able to define the exact geographical distributions of many species along the Russian continental part of the Sea of Japan or to compile species lists for each coastal area or bay. These gaps can be filled only by Scarlata (1981) data, but they are outdated and additional faunal studies are needed. The bivalve fauna of the southern part of Sakhalin Island (Golikov & Scarlata, 1985) and small Moneron Island in the north-western part of the Sea of Japan (Ivanova, 1985; Romeyko & Kamenev, 1985) were studied more completely due to the work ofhydrobiological 256 K.A. LuTAENKO 50 Fig. I. Map of the Sea of Japan with areas of collecting mollusks (I - Peter the Great Bay, 2 - middle Primorye coast). teams of the Institute of Marine Biology, Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (former USSR Academy of Sciences) during the 1970's and 1980's. Evseev (1981) described in detail the Holocene history of bivalve molluscan fauna of the middle part of Primorye Territory, but some species names given in his work are without decriptions or illustrations and require a taxonomical and nomenclatural revision. The present paper deals with new materials on the species composition, distribution and habitats of bivalve mollusks in two areas: Vrangel Bay and middle Primorye (Fig. 1). Vrangel Bay is situated within Nakhodka Bay - one of the largest embayments inside Peter the Great Bay, but bivalve mollusks have not been studied in this area except for the records of some commercial species (Razin, 1934). Biogeographically, middle Primorye is located in another unit in terms of zonal biogeography (Scarlato, 1981) and environmental conditions are quite different from Peter the Great Bay. Materials and Methods Materials for this study were collected in Vrangel Bay during August 1995 aboard the R/V Kassis (24 stations) (Fig. 2) and along the coast of middle Primorye (Figs. 3-5) during September-October 1995 aboard the R/V Akademik Oparin, 18th cruise (16 stations). A total of 185 samples were treated containing both empty shells and live mollusks. Living specimens were fixed with 70 % ethanol (middle Primoryie) or formalin (Vrangel Bay). In Vrangel Bay samples were collected using a small dredge and simultaneously, at the same stations, with a bottom-sampler by SCUBA­ divers. During the 18th cruise of the R/V Akademik Oparin, samples were collected qualitatively by SCUBA-divers and by the same dredge. One station was sampled by trawl (sta. 39). At a majority of SCUBA-diving stations, benthic organisms were collected at different depths and bottom FAUNA OF BIVALVES OF RUSSIAN CONTINENTAL COAST 257 OF THE SEA OF JAPAN '• . '.· .. ., TH'E GREAT @ Fig. 2. Map of Peter the Great Bay with sampling stations in Vrangel Bay (V: Vrangel Bay). types, and, in this case, several samples were taken at one station. The samples were sieved on board of the ship and sorted into dead (empty shells) and live specimens. Samples from Vrangel Bay were first fixed aboard ship and then sieved in the laboratory of the Institute Museum, Institute of Marine Biology, FEB RAS. The majority of live mollusks were dried after a fixation period of 2-4 months. The collection of bivalve mollusks from both areas studied is stored in the Institute Museum, Institute of Marine Biology, FEB RAS. Abbreviations used throughout the text are as follows: MIMB - the Institute Museum, Institute of Marine Biology, FEB RAS (Vladivostok); ZMFU - Zoological Museum, Far East State University (Vladivostok); M.e. - material examined; s. - specimen(s). Regional Setting The Russian continental coast of the Sea of Japan is clearly divided into two geomorphological 258 K.A. LUTAENKO Fig. 3. Map of the middle Primorye with sampling stations 27, 28, 41, 42 (southern part of the area studied). Fig. 4. Map of the middle Primorye with sampling stations 9, 40 (northern part of the area studied). FAUNA OF BIVALVES OF RUSSIAN CONTINENTAL COAST 259 OF THE SEA OF JAPAN Table I. Sampling stations of the R/V Akademik Oparin made m middle Primorye (Maritime Province) during 18th cruise (September - October 1995). STATION LATITUDE, N LONGITUDE, W 27 42°58' 134°06' 28 42°58' 134°06' 29 44°26' 135°59' 30 44°26' 135°59' 31 44°26' 135°59' 32 44°32' 136°11' 33 44°34' 136°13' 34 44°44' 136°20' 35 44°46' 136°27' 36 44°47' 136°19' 37 44°56' 136°34' 38 44°55' 136°33' 39 44°51' 136°37' 40 * * 41 43°05' ** 134°18' ** 42 42°53' 133°97' * Location of sta. 40 was not determined precisely (Rudnaya Bay, near Brinera Cape). ** Near Titova Cape regions with different hydrological regimes and environmental conditions. The northern region is characterized by a weakly indented coastline with openbays representing, in most cases, concavities of the coast, not sheltered from winds. Abrasional shores with rocky cliffs of significant height and comparatively narrow gravel and boulder beaches predominate along nearly the entire coastline; accumulative areas (low marine terraces) occur in coastal concavities (Papunov, 1987). Bays, relatively enclosed from wind waves and cut into the coast (Plastun, Dzhigit, Olga, Vladimir, Valentin Bays, etc.), were formed by the ingression of the sea into erosional river valleys (lgnatova & Chudaeva, 1983; Korotky & Khudyakov, 1990). A large number of small streams originating from mountain slopes and several large rivers flow into the sea in this area, but do not significantly influence the hydrological conditions of the shallow waters. The northern shelf of the Sea of Japan is narrow (average 35 km), and occasionally narrows to only 10 - 11 km. The depth of the shelf edge varies from 100 to 200 m. Coarse-grained sand and pebble deposits that accumulated during the maximum of last glaciation, when the sea level dropped 120-130 m (Korotky et al., 1980), are distributed along the marginal areas of the shelf. In the upper part of the shelf, basal rocks are frequently found with thin layers of clastic deposits (lgnatova & Chudaeva, 1983). Sandy sediments are limited in their distribution along the coast of middle Primorye. Silty sands are found in the wide area of the central shelf, sometimes having an admixture of pebbles. Muddy sediments occupy the bottom of semi-enclosed bays. Two cold currents wash the coast of Primorye - Primorskoe (Maritime Province Cold Current, according to Hidaka, 1966) and Schrenck Currents (= Liman Cold Current) (Yurasov & Yarichin, 1991). The main stream of Primorskoe Current flows at a distance of 15-20 km from the coast along the marginal part of the shelf and mainly below 50-60 m.